Real Drugs in a Virtual World

Many assume that the Internet introduces youth and young adults to dangerous information and substances while others contend that open and free access to accurate drug use information is critical to reducing dangerous behaviors. The primary goal of this book is to take the debate about drug use and the Internet from polemic discourse to social scientific investigation. Our work highlights the variety of ways to examine drug use as a social problem, and several theoretical perspectives valuable for online research.

Many assume that the Internet introduces youth and young adults to dangerous information and substances while others contend that open and free access to accurate drug use information is critical to reducing dangerous behaviors. This book takes the debate about drug use and the Internet from polemic discourse to social scientific investigation.

Part 1 Part One: Other Studies Chapter 2 Club Drugs, Online Communities, and Harm Reduction Websites on the Internet Part 3 Part Two: A Study in Online Community Chapter 4 The Body or the Body Politic: Risk, Harm, Moral Panic and Drug Use Discourse Online Chapter 5 The New Drugs Internet Survey: A Portrait of Respondents Part 6 Part Three: Online Narratives of Use Chapter 7 Causal Factors in Drug Use: A Phenomenological Approach Based on Internet Data Chapter 8 Voluntary Use, Risk, and Online Drug Use Discourse Chapter 9 Deterrence of Harm to Self: A Study of Online Rhetoric Part 10 Part Four: The Internet, Knowledge, and Offline Experienced Chapter 11 Assessing the Likelihood of Internet Information-Seeking Leading to Offline Drug Use by Youth Chapter 12 Scripters and Freaks: Knowledge and Use of Prescription Stimulants Online Chapter 13 Illegal Behavior and Legal Speech: Internet Communities' Discourse about Drug Use Part 14 Part Five: Music, Drugs, and Online Subcultures Chapter 15 Music as a Feature of the Online Discussion of Illegal Drugs Chapter 16 The Never-Ending Conversation: A Case Study of Rave-Related Internet Conversation and Drug Use Chapter 17 Using Popular Music to Interpret the Drug Experience Part 18 Part Six: Conclusion Chapter 19 A Review of Internet Studies in this Volume, an Examination of Root Causes of Drug Abuse from a Societal Point of View, and Some Possible Solutions